by Kirsten Koss and Amelia Boag McGlynn
One year on from the University’s shock announcement of a £15 million deficit that jeopardised modern languages teaching, staff and students reflect on the unfolding impact of the high-profile controversy.
In October 2023, The Gaudie exclusively reported on the University’s plan to open a three-option consultation on the future of language teaching, including the possibility of discontinuing it altogether.
The ‘Save UoA Languages’ campaign gained widespread media coverage, thousands of supporters, and backing from the Scottish Government.
Plans for the ‘cluster’ within the school of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture (LLMVC) included reducing language department staffing by at least one-third to address the financial deficit.
Under pressure, University leaders withdrew plans to cut courses, opting instead for a University-wide voluntary severance (VS) and early retirement (ER) scheme as part of a ‘financial recovery plan’.
However, it seems that after months of public uncertainty, the damage to the reputation of the languages department and the University was already done.
With work underway to revitalise the languages cluster, plans are underway to incentivise prospective students to choose Aberdeen.
Despite greater togetherness, staff and students say much work remains.
A new sense of determination
Following the public stand-off with the University management, staff and students say there have been positive takeaways from the campaign.
One second-year Spanish and Gaelic student saIs:
“It feels a bit like everyone’s closer. Students and staff have sort of been through this event together.
“In terms of my degree, I am more determined to keep raising awareness about the importance of languages.”
The Languages campaign saw the University’s unions coming together for the first time, with the SU and UCU joining forces to lead the movement.
An anonymous staffer notes that while community spirit has endured, frustration remains high.
“Workloads have gone up; stress is endemic and our trust in our managers has disappeared.”
The same member of staff spoke of their frustration at a “lack of accountability” from the senior leaders behind the initial plans:
“We remain a strong community, but everyone is being worked to the bone for an employer which trashed our reputations not just within the university but externally, too.”
What has the impact been?
The impact have stetched beyond LLMVC including into professional services where staffing levels have been greatly reduced.
Professional services experienced the highest uptake of severance and retirement schemes, with some staff receiving up to a year’s salary upon leaving the University.
One professional services described the aftermath as “chaos” telling The Gaudie that the suspension of single-honours language programmes and introduction of new courses affected administrative staff across the institution.
Higher workloads with fewer staff mean students are more likely to encounter issues, which, detracts from the overall student experience.”
Lowered morale…
“It is horrible to work in the department now,” one staff member shared, noting that relationships with Head of School Professor Chris Collins have soured. Professor Collins was a key figure behind the consultation. The same member of staff added:
“Cherished colleagues have been forced to leave, which has left not only the gaps in teaching and REF [Research Excellence Framework] power but also the good atmosphere to which they contributed. There is no trust whatsoever between the academics and the management, especially within the School.
There is no longer any communication between academics and the School management. There is a lasting sense that the Head of School tried to get rid of a third of the staff and didn’t care about the impact it had on those individuals or the School as a place to work.”
One senior member of staff noted that many departing staff felt they had “no alternative” but to take voluntary severance, leaving remaining staff under “considerable stress.”
Students expressed frustration at an apparent lack of teaching staff in the department, with one Gaelic student sharing that “staff are doing their best” but a lack of teaching staff feels stark:
“In Gaelic, we are a small department, and we lost two lecturers. The head of school accepted more applications for VS than he should have, to the point where the department had to hire someone – at a lower rate of pay. There is nobody to cover classes in the case of illness.”
What could the future hold?
Concerns about language teaching provision and increased workloads have led staff and students to discuss the lasting damage to the department’s reputation.
However, one member of staff acknowledged that although damage to the department’s reputation has occured, they believes the future is brighter:
“We believe the reputation not only of Modern Languages but also of the University, was damaged by management’s refusal to consult seriously with MLTI staff in 2023 and to lift the threat of redundancy.”
However, senior University leaders publicly committed to the future of language degrees in March, and expressed a willingness to support their future growth. Supported by SMT, some departmental staff are hopeful that Aberdeen’s language degrees can restore their reputation, one that has enjoyed decades of success.
Responding, a University of Aberdeen spokesperson said: “Modern Languages staff have been working with the Head of School and colleagues across the University since March to follow through on our commitment to the future of language degrees.
“While recognising that significant challenges remain, the revised approach has seen a 20% overall increase in the number of students taking languages courses as electives. Arabic courses are up 21%, French and Gaelic are both up 30% and German has seen a 40% uptick in enrolments. We have also seen increased interest in our Mandarin and Spanish courses, which have risen 7% and 10% respectively.
“It is also worth noting that students are engaging from all over the University, with Biological Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Social Sciences, Business, Education and Law all represented.”
